Tile



H. JANSEN May 7, 1935.

TILE

Filed Oct. 18, 1953 1 I 11111 is?! [river-La ar $571567? 1 @lzg Patented May 7, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT orricr:

TILE

Henry Jansen, Chicago, 11]., assignor of one-half to' George L. Ashline, Chicago, Ill.

Application October 18, 1933, Serial No. 694,081

3 Claims.

My invention belongs to that general class of devices known as building material or the like, and relates more particularly'to an improved tile 'or block suitable for building construction to expansion bolts, lag screws and the like, various other materials, fixtures, base boards, moldings, trim, wall board and the like may be readily and easily secured and anchored in place in a permanent manner.

The invention has particularly as an object the construction of a tile in which said materials, fixtures or the like may be readily and firmly secured in place by means of nails or like securing means by driving the same into the tile with a hammer or other suitable implement. has as an object the production of a tile of the kind described in which the location of other devices on the tile may be, to all practical purposes, wherever desired.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein given.

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, and more par ticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of several tiles constructed in accordance with my invention ara block of suitable size, shape and material, a

substantially conventional type of hollow build- It also ing tile being shown. The tile illustrated is provided with the desired number of openings 2 extending th:rethrough from end to end, separated by the webs '3--3, the number of webs depending upon the number of openings and the size of the tile. Generally, tile of this type are provided with the grooves 4 on the faces and edges so that plaster or mortar may be keyed thereto either in securing the tile blocks together or for retaining plaster or like finishes. Ordinarily, with tile of this kind which are more or less hard, porous and brittle when burned and ready for use, it is customary in attaching devices thereto to either drill holes through or into the tile anduse toggle bolts or equivalent fastening m cans or to drive wooden or other plugs in the same, or to arrange wooden or like blocks between the tile 'to which other construction materials or fixtures may be secured by means of nails, screws or the like. Obviously, these methods of attaching other materials to the wall or ceiling are not only expensive but have other disadvantages, the tile often being cracked or broken in the process. or where wooden plugs or blocks are used the same may shrink and become loose so that the fastening means is loosely secured to the tile,the blocks or plugs.

In my improved construction I provide a recess 0 more or less in the shape of a groove which extends rectilinearly or non-rectilinearly inwardly from one or both faces or even an edge of the tile, into which a nail or like implement may be driven, the preferred type of recess being one which is non-rectilinear or of a zigzag formation so that when a bendable fastening device, such as a wire nail or the like, is driven into the recess it will be distorted and interlocked in the groove and be thereby firmly retained in place. As shown in Fig. 2, H represents a groove, the particular block illustrated having groove II at each side, which is of a zigzag formation,that is, does not extend straight inwardly the tile but more or less zigzag, I the same being of the desired size in width and depth depending upon the size of the tile and the fastening means which it is preferred to use. As illustrated, the inner end of the groove is preferthe outer end slightly rounded or bevelc-i as indicated at II. It will be noted by referring to Fig. 2 that the webs 3 are preferably enlarged adjacent the recess so that the tile is not weakened, particularly at the web. The grooves are formed when the block is being formed and the material in a more or less. plastic shape.

In Figs. 1 and 3, I5 representsany cooperating ably enlarged as shown at l2 and the edges at 2 material such as a strip or board or a fixture or the like which it is desired to secure to the tile, and I4 represents a nail or similar fastening member which is driven through the member I! and into the recess in the tile. It will be noted by referring to Fig. 3 that the nail or device is "bent or distorted and it slightly longer than the recess is turned overin the enlarged end ii of the recess so that it is impossible to-withdraw the nail without straightening out the end and more or less straightening the nail as it is withdrawn.

Also by referring to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the nail I may be of slightly greater diameter 7 than the width of the recess so that as the nail is driven in, it cuts its way along the walls of the recess as indicated at it.

The recess'is formed in the tile when the same is made and in a plastic state, and while astraight recess inwardly is found to have considerable holding power, it is of course obvious thatthe zigzag recess must have still greater holding power. of course where the recess is zigzag variations in width of the recess do not affect the holding power as the distorted holding member is positively locked in the recess. The tile may be set with the recesses extending vertically or horizon-.

' manufactured with practically no expense over the ordinary type of tile and auxiliary devices are not required.

Having thus described my invention, it' is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form.

construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described or uses mentioned.

What I claim as Letters Patent is:

1. A tile block adapted as an anchorage for securingmeans, a portion of said block forming the thereof, said recess being rectilinear and perpen-' dicular to said face at its outer end, the inner portion of said recess-being sinuous and irregularly inclined relative to said rectilinear portion, the cross-sectional dimensions of said recess being new and desire to secure by slightly less than the diameter of a nail it is designed to receive.

3. A tile block adapted as an anchorage for securing means, a portion of said block forming the side walls of a recess opening into one face thereof, said recess being rectilinear andperpendicular to said face at its outer end, the inner portion of said recess being sinuous and irregularly inclined relative to said rectilinear portion, the cross-sectional dimensions of said recess bei slightly less than the diameter of a nail it is designed to receive, and terminating in a generally spherical-shaped portion adapted to receive and bend backwardly the entering end ofthe nail.

HENRY JANSEN. 

